Does my GT550 require a battery?

[bobotech]

I wonder since it has an alternator not a generator. I am getting close to starting to work on the electrical and I currently don't have a battery.

Is it safe/okay just to hook up a car battery via jumper cables to the pos/neg cables under the seat?

[Coyote]

Yes, the GT550 needs a battery. A fully charged one at that. They don't run well with a weak battery. I would avoid using a car battery. You think you have electrical problems now.

[H2RICK]

I wonder since it has an alternator not a generator.

Firstly, ALL the Suzi triples run a battery-coil ignition system.

What you'd REALLY want, IF you COULD run without a battery, would be a generator which normally produces DC (direct current) voltage in the 12 - 14 volt range. You bike's system requires DC voltage to function correctly so, theoretically, a DC generator would be a better choice if you were to attempt such a thing.

OTOH, alternators, as fitted to our Suzi triples, produce AC (alternating current) voltage typically in the 60 - 75 VAC range......which is NO good (in its raw form) for ANYTHING on your 550.....unless you want to fry everything electrical on the bike.
As well, since our Suzi triple alternators are the excited field type (requiring an external voltage source to enable them to actually produce anything) you would get ZERO output from them UNLESS you have a battery.

You are PROBABLY thinking about a magneto ignition system which does NOT require a battery.......IF/IF you are not running lighting of any kind.

[tz375]

As the guys already pointed out, it is theoretically possible to run a system without a battery. What you do is to replace the battery with a large capacitor to smooth out pulses. You still need a regulator and rectifier to turn that AC into DC and to keep voltages within bounds.

That works well on some bikes but at low revs, flipping on the indicators is enough to stall it and lights really don't work until the revs are high enough. So it's not all that practical 0n a street bike that ever sees traffic or traffic lights.

The added complication with Suzuki triples is that they use an excited field alternator. What that means is that it needs a battery to energize the electromagnet. Without a battery, it's impossible to get the charge system to charge at all. So on a Suzi triple, it's not a viable option.